“Aaron, where
are you?” Kevin’s mental question intruded on his sleep and opening his
eyes, Aaron looked up to the night sky and grinned, “In
my large hammock near the hot springs with a luscious body on either side of
me, want to join in for round four?” he sent a giggle and a loving
caress.

“Round four, are
you trying to wear them out or something?” Kevin sent as he sat on
Aaron’s bed and laughed at the image Aaron sent of a sleeping and exhausted
Pete and Tommy on either side of him. “Is
there a reason why all three of you are sleeping under the stars? That is
besides the threat you uttered to Andrew and Tyler to lock them in a bedroom
until they drained each other dry. Tyler, in the back of his mind, is
thinking you are upset with him.”

Sending back an image of him wearing a sheepish
expression, Aaron sighed, “Oops, I
had hoped that I could nudge him and Andrew together for the night. I had
already promised Tommy the two of us would be together at first and after
talking with Tyler, I had hoped they would get too busy to remember that
each of them wanted to try to drain me dry.”

Snuggling closer to his two lovers for the night, “Is
there anyone else on my bed but you? If not can you step off to one side and
let me borrow your eyes and I’ll port us back without waking these two.”

Jumping off the bed and pulling back the top sheet and
blankets Kevin held back his giggle as Aaron holding onto Pete and Tommy
appeared on top of the bed, with Aaron in the middle with a nice hard on
pointing in the air. Not wanting to wake either of the two exhausted looking
teens, well alright sleeping peacefully Kevin pathed, “Dear
god I know for a fact you got some yesterday morning and now several hours
ago, so good lord talk about stamina.”

Laughing mentally Aaron maneuvered to create some room
in the bed, “Love, if those two are
still awake, drop a hint in their ears to get here before I wake up and
Tyler will see I’m not hiding from him, then crawl your ass in bed with us,
so we can snuggle,” closing his eyes briefly, he opened them slightly as
Kevin crawled back onto the bed pulling the covers up as he snuggled between
Pete and Aaron, kissing Kevin, he snuggled up and all four were soon asleep.

Early the next morning, Aaron woke when he felt air
movement near his face and reaching out with his senses he found Tyler not
that far away. Rolling over in the direction he sensed Tyler was standing
Aaron slowly opened his eyes to see that the disturbance he had felt was
Tyler throwing the blanket over himself after pulling his chair over to
block the path to the bathroom so he could curl up in it, glancing at the
clock he quietly groaned, four thirty, another hour of sleep... of what
could have been sleep.

Being very careful not to disturb any of his sleeping
lovers, Aaron finally made it off the bed and silently walked over to the
chair and knelt down next to it and looked Tyler in the eyes and whispered,
“That not only will make you sore and uncomfortable,you will barely be able to move in the morning, follow me.”

Standing up and moving around the chair leading towards
his closet, Aaron glanced over his shoulder to see Tyler drag the chair to
one side and rush to his side sleepily too tired to chuckle in amusement,
Aaron led Tyler into the shower, touched the panel and programmed the shower
for sore muscle relief and laughed when Tyler screeched out in surprise as
the water hit him. Grabbing the soap, Aaron started to wash Tyler’s hair
when the shower cycle paused; the jets stopped and instead filled the shower
stall with hot steam.

Tyler, feeling his head being massaged and washed,
leaned back into Aaron and was pleasantly surprised with how good it felt,
“Were you hiding from us last night? We came looking for you twice and you
were not here.”

Lifting Tyler’s arms so he could wash the underarm
area, Aaron made his way down Tyler’s body, lathering him up before the
timer hit zero, “Not hiding from you so much, more like seriously occupied
and we moved from the hot springs to the hammock in between round two and
round three.”

Soaping himself up, Aaron smiled as Tyler turned around
in awe, “Three, round three? How many rounds did you guys do it before you
came back?”

“Depends on how you want to count them I guess,” Aaron
held his arms up as the timer hit zero and the jets blasted them from all
sides, catching Tyler by surprise once more. Laughing, Aaron waited a moment
before the shower cut off once more and the cyclone effect of the extreme
warm dry air started to buffet them. Once the cycle was complete, Aaron
opened the door and ushered Tyler towards the sink and started to brush his
teeth after finding a spare toothbrush in the drawer and handing it over to
Tyler.

Once clean and ready for the day, Aaron placed his
communicator over his ear and strapped on his scanner and P.A.D.D. and
placing his arm around Tyler’s shoulder, walked out of the closet and smiled
at the sleeping trio before heading towards the upstairs kitchen for a quick
glass of juice. Pouring a glass of juice for Tyler and handing it over,
Aaron stood on the other side of the small counter and looked at him as he
drank half the glass in one steady gulp before refilling it and asking, “So
was your night with Andrew everything you had dreamed it could be?”

Setting his glass down on the counter, Tyler smiled at
the memory, “Everything and more, he made me feel special and wanted, and we
talked a lot in between, it was not all sex,” Tyler quickly added as he
picked up his glass for another sip of juice, “This is good, what kind is
it?”

“My own special blend,” looking through the glass front
Aaron read his handwriting, “this one is a blend of five different tropical
fruits; the predominant one in this blend is Pomegranate.”

“So why were you hunting us down last night, I would
have thought you would be busy getting to know Andrew better?” Aaron asked,
as he grabbed a bottle of the high energy drink out of the fridge, “before I
forget, has any one warned you about eating or drinking anything out of red
containers?”

Tilting his head as he looked at the bottle, Tyler
thought about it, “Not that I remember, why?”

Reaching back into the freezer compartment Aaron pulled
out the container with his donuts in them and opened the lid, “Each one of
these donuts have as much food as you would normally eat in three days, all
concentrated down into a convenient tasty treat, the high energy drinks
probably have as many nutrients besides calories for a full day in them…they
will make a non Alteran extremely sick, I think you already can guess our
metabolisms are vastly different than yours.” Looking wistfully at the
container as he started to put it back, Aaron thought what the hell and
pulled one of the donuts out. Munching on it Aaron let the bliss of the
calories hit him and held back groaning in pleasure.

Tyler was awed once more and then thinking about what
Aaron was eating he turned slightly gray as the thought of a big breakfast
after three days worth of food was sickening,
“Right, if it is wrapped in red
don’t eat it, ever.”

Laughing, Aaron shook his head as he popped the last
bite in his mouth and swallowed, “Not ever. Once you’re altered, then you
can safely eat anything in red,” looking at Tyler as if examining him for a
flaw, “that is if you want to join us as much as we want you to join.”

“That’s one of the things Andrew and I talked about
last night, and Kevin showed me THE TALK so I know how things are supposed
to work,” Tyler giggled before placing his glass in the sink and giving it a
quick wash before placing it in the rack, “Did Thomas really get drunk after
Pete was finished with his explanation to him?”

Laughing, Aaron pulled Tyler close so they could walk
next to each other and put his arm back around his shoulder, “He sure did.
Friedrich carried him out of the local pub outside the naval gates in
Elswick. Had to let him sleep it off.”

“So what happens with me now, I mean did I get to be
number four on your list?” Tyler asked shyly, as they entered Aaron’s office
and he sat down logging into the terminal to check his mail.

Pulling Tyler around so he was sitting on one of his
legs and then closing them, trapping his legs between his, “Yes, you’re
number four, what did you and Andrew decide about having a son together?”

Leaning into Aaron’s chest, Tyler smiled, “You know it
is very strange to be talking about having a son, after all, I still had
three years until grads.”

Picking and choosing emails to open, Aaron smiled back
down at Tyler who was absentmindedly twirling his fingers around his hard
nipple, “Well, there are two ways to handle this, both of you wait a couple
of years until you're both ready and you have a son then get altered, or you
both create a son now and place him in stasis sleep before he is born, and
then get altered. The advantage of option two is that you both become
Alteran’s before Edward has his own sons.”

“This is way too weird,” Tyler looked towards the
monitor and noticed the email about finances, and became interested in what
he was seeing.

“Talk it over with Andrew later; after all, it is both
of your decisions,” Aaron told him as he typed out the orders to convert a
good portion of the income into gold bullion before going on to the next
email.

A half hour later, a freshly scrubbed Kevin walked into
the office and kissed Aaron, and to Tyler’s surprise, included him in the
morning kiss routine before heading out to the gestalt point. Logging off,
Aaron opened his legs letting Tyler up, and gave him a nudge so he could
stand and they followed Kevin to the Clan Hall. Then Aaron walked around greeting
everyone before it was time to start porting out for morning chores.

Tyler, spotting Andrew, drifted over to his side and
joined his work group as Edward left Derrick and David’s side to join with
Aaron who was going to cover for Tommy this morning so he could fix
breakfast.

“Good morning Edward, are you ready to get to work?”
Aaron smiled as he took Edward's hand and ported them to the aquaculture
facility where they met Tommy’s crew, and Edward jumped in with the feeding
duties while Aaron oversaw operations and scheduled the harvesting of
several tanks before it was time for them to move to the sea farm to feed
the stock there.

Finishing up the chores, Aaron went round to give all
of Tommy’s crew the hugs they wanted, before they were happy and lined up to
port away. Grabbing onto Edward, he ported them to the Clan Hall and after a
quick wash, they made their way through the line. Aaron grabbed some sausage
and waffles with his scrambled eggs, smiled at the open mouthed shock that
Tyler sent his way and turned back to his plate to enjoy breakfast.

The whispered conversation eventually made the rounds
of the table and Kevin, along with Pete and Tim picked up their plates,
plopped them down across from Aaron and glared at him, “What?” he
questioned, fork halfway to his mouth.

“No more skipping meals, you’re still too skinny,” Tim
scolded him, as Aaron shrugged and continued eating. “It’s not like I’m not
eating, you know,” he thought he should point out some aspect in his
defense.”

“No nookie on days you skip meals,” Mark called out
from across the room, and everyone laughed at Aaron’s horrified expression.

Shoji in a bold move for him, due to his upbringing,
filled another plate full of food, came up behind Aaron and transferred it
over to his plate and leaned over whispering in his ear, “We are having
lo-mien with lunch,” he left the table after Aaron perked up with a smile on
his face.

On his way back, he stopped by Brian’s place and handed
over a chip, “Would you please add these vegetables to your gardens, they
will help with my lunch preparations and his Majesty's health.”

Looking up and seeing that almost everyone was done
Aaron stood causing the trio of watchdogs to glare, “If I could have your
attention before we break up, as soon as I finish breakfast there will be a
Clan Meeting in my common room. So for our honorary members I must apologize
for asking you to stay out here until we are finished. The rest of you,
please make your way to the common room and as soon as my minders agree that
I’ve eaten enough for five, I’ll join you.” Aaron sat back down and ignored
the glares, before leaning forward, “I appreciate you caring, guys, but I
don’t think I am going to get any fatter than I am now, no matter how hard
you try to stuff me, it’s not going to happen.”

Standing up, after spearing his last sausage link,
Aaron went into the kitchen to wash his plate and glass; he smiled at the
six people being excluded from the talks and walked with his concerned
nannies towards the Clan common room.

“What do you mean when you say you will never get any
fatter than you are now?” Kevin wanted to know; maybe they were being too
harsh on Aaron.

“What you see is what you get, I will never get more
than two percent of body fat, but more like one percent, my DNA is designed
that way,” Aaron stopped when they passed through the entry and flipped a
hidden switch erecting a bright red energy field across the doorway.
Counting heads from the top of the balcony as he looked down into the common
room he had to smile before making his way to the steps so he could make his
way to the chair someone had pulled over near his bedroom door, and he sat
down.

“What we are going to be talking about probably would
be considered way past Clan Seal, we are discussing things that will find
their way to the Clan Secrets files.” Seeing the serious looks on everyone's
faces, even Kenny the prankster, Aaron smiled, “Before we get to the problem
Pete and Tommy discovered yesterday…” Aaron trailed off as he noticed Damien
rubbing his leg and then wince in pain and rub his temple.

Pulling out his scanner before he had realized it,
Aaron had it pointed at Damien and halfway across the room before his brain
caught up with the fact he stood up, “How long have you been in pain,
Damien?”

“Off and on for a couple of days now,” Damien looked up
as he watched the scanner move down his body and saw Fred standing next to
Aaron watching the readings closely. “I thought I overdid it or something.”

Confused at the readings, Aaron did the data dump to
Damien’s records before turning the scanner on Kenny for comparison; “Hey,
I’m not hurting,” Kenny was scared, as Aaron frowned very rarely when
dealing with them.

Patting Kenny’s knee reassuringly he nodded towards
Doug and Pat and caught Fred’s scanner moving over Doug before he changed
some settings, after doing a dump to Kenny’s file and pointed it at the
medallion. There Aaron let his expression show his surprise, “Well shit, no
one ever said the medallions could do that.”

“Do what?” the concern was evident in David’s voice, as
he moved closer to his brother.

“Alter a person to make them Alteran,” Aaron looked at
Fred who nodded his head, “They’re the same as Kenny, forty percent
Alteran.”

Porting one of the high energy drinks to him, Aaron
caught it and handed it to Damien who looked at it like a snake about to
strike, “Don’t worry Damien, it’s safe for you to drink now.” Sitting down
so he was facing Damien, he motioned for him to drink up, “Trust me, it will
help with the pain and soreness, it seems that besides identifying you as
Clan, those medallions do one extra thing the archives never mentioned.”

Smiling when Damien took a tentative sip and smiled
before gulping it greedily, “Damien’s DNA has been altered slowly, and he is
starting puberty, well at least the first stage so far. I had done a little
bit of research on the medallions before handing them out, as I wanted to
make sure they were safe for those that had not gone through the alterations
process yet.” Glancing back at Kevin, “This ties in with your curiosity
yesterday about how I knew the Shaolin was not a descendant of Clan
Stranton, all Clan members DNA are altered slightly away from the Alteran
norm so that our technology will respond to you without fail, a just in case
failsafe.”

Smiling at Damien who looked confused and happy,
alternating between the two, ”Damien here was closest to entering puberty of
the four non altered Clan members, and when I gave them the symbol of the
Clan to wear, I assumed they would stay dormant until they had undergone
alteration when they reached full puberty…I was wrong. The programming in
the medallions decided to alter their DNA to Alteran slowly, so that it
could complete its primary programming of inserting the Clan Stranton alteration
sequences into their DNA.”

“I’m sorry you four, I never even thought the matrix
programming in the medallions had that type of fuzzy logic, or I would have
asked you before putting the medallions on each of you,” pointing his finger
at Damien. “Damien here is entering puberty, so his metabolism is speeding
up which let the medallion increase the alterations to an accelerated level,
right now he is fully Alteran and his body is preparing itself to go to the
next stage of puberty and unfortunately, you will experience breakthrough
sickness in truth, as if you were one of our children born as Alteran.”

“Does this mean I can get off restriction on bed
partners now?” Damien smiled, as he looked slyly at his future lovers who
all laughed.

“Well, I can see you’re not all that bothered by this,”
Aaron laughed, as he stood up and went back to his chair and sat down as he
considered the request, “Six inches if it does not hurt,” he told Damien to
his huge smile, as he sat down. “But the downside is, you will be the first
to experience breakthrough sickness. You can drink those energy drinks when
you feel sore or in pain as that is the signal your body is telling you it is
seriously lacking nutrients and is very unhappy.”

Letting his eyes fall on the other three he smiled,
“Which means you three that you should pay attention to how Damien handles
the next few months, as when you hit puberty, you will be going through the
same thing.” And glancing around the room to the smiles and congratulations
from the older members of the Clan, “And it means I can no longer offer the
medallion to Tyler like I had planned, unless he and Andrew decide to make a
baby now and place it in cryo stasis, otherwise he would be DNA wise Alteran
by the time they got around to making babies…so no mentions of this, ever. I
will amend the clan secrets archive about this, and place a notation in the
general database when the medallions are issued in the future, so they know
to seek out someone who can look the answer up for them.”

Laughing at Damien who was acting like it was his
birthday, Aaron pulled out his P.A.D.D. and brought up Damien’s file, his
actual birthday is in thirteen days and he sent that to the rest of the Clan
by email so they had
time to properly plan.

“As I started to say, before we got a huge welcomed
surprise,” Aaron grinned, “Tyler will be joining the Clan and will be the
other father of Andrew’s son whenever the two come to an agreement to get
around to using Pete’s most luscious female.” Aaron added his laughter to
the others as there were catcalls trying to get Pete to blush.

Settling back in his chair, Aaron got serious, which
caused the others to settle down quickly, “I’ll let Tommy and Pete explain
the problem before we discuss it, I will take your wishes under advisement,
but the decision is still mine to make. I’ll listen as you all try to cover
all the angles as I think about what to do.”

Tommy gave Aaron an unreadable look before glancing at
his lovers, “One of my crew in an offhand comment wondered if we used
fencing like they do worldwide when building net pens out in the ocean, or if
we have some nifty new toy for them to play with. That got me thinking and
looking through the system as I never gave it much thought; I assumed, like
Aaron, we would just use the tanks and such that we had built on the island.
But after thinking about it and some of the benefits of creating net pens
over the trench, where the spare feed and waste would be swept away and
diluted appropriately into the surrounding system.” Tommy smiled, “I’m
getting off-track here, let’s leave it that his comment made me go looking
for a solution and I found one. It was after pulling up the plans for the
shield generators and finding that the settings could be modified to keep in
or out certain DNA, to be able to keep something in or out, I thought I had
the perfect solution.”

Frowning, Tommy looked at Pete, “Unfortunately, after
inputting the plans into the recyclers and automation lines, I found the
problem…it will be a little over a year before there is a line free to build
the altered shield generators and they start to roll off the assembly line,
we’ve maxed out our production capabilities and the one year estimate is if we
don’t add any other project to the construction yards.” Glancing around the
room and seeing the concern on most of their faces, though Aaron’s showed
nothing, Tommy pointed to Pete, “I called Pete and asked him if he could
build one of the replicators like in his favorite SCIFI show, a big one,
I’ll let him take over now.”

“Tommy’s right; we are maxed out. Sure we can move some
of the new work to the asteroid belt assemblers and ferry the finished
products back to Earth, the problem is, those lines are set up for ship
building.“ Pete sighed as he stood up and paced, “We could use the
assemblers on Centauri, but then we have the issue of not being ready to
open the planet yet and then transport of the finished product back here.”

“Replicators are the way to go…the only problem is, it
would take a year to build one and then I’m not sure exactly yet how the
damn things work, for sure,” Pete fell back into the couch he had been
sitting on.

“Why so long to build one?” Derrick asked, as he looked
over to Aaron for direction and found he was closed off, thinking, it looked
like.

“Because I have to build the tools that will build the
tools that can build the components, and I am going to run into the same
problem Tommy did, a free assembly line.” Pete sighed before smiling,
“Though once we get one built, it will be better and more powerful than the
ones they use. Because when it comes to system components we are far ahead
of them, they use something they call an Isolinear chip, but theirs is so
slow and the size of an oversized credit card. Compared to the ones we have
that are the size of our thumbnail which are also faster and more powerful.”

“Can’t we just steal one from the other dimension or at
least the parts?” Kenny asked, as he looked at Pete, “if you had the parts,
could you put one together and then make a new one by using the one we took,
or we could give it back after building ours, so it’s not really stealing, more
like borrowing.”

Aaron had been waiting for someone to suggest this, and
wondered if anyone would think to shoot it down, but he never thought about
borrowing one long enough to build their own, listening to the conversation,
vaguely he thought of the possibilities and drawbacks.

“Not the best way to be neighbors, stealing something
from them, other than knowledge that is,” Kevin grinned as he looked at
Pete, “borrowing it on the other hand. How long would it take for you to get
all the components, if you borrowed one of theirs, could you do it in a few
hours and then send it back so they never knew it had been used?”

Aaron turned to Pete to listen to his answer, as that
might very well affect his decision which was hovering on either side of the
wire right now.

Pulling his P.A.D.D. out of his pouch, he linked it to
the monitor, using it like a terminal he brought up schematics for the
replicator and transporter system then split the screen and pulled up the
emergency files for replicating a replicator in a disaster scenario.

“Borrowing something like this with someone's
permission is all well and good, but we are doing this without their
permission, so I think if we go through with this, we need to compensate
them in some way for the use, otherwise it is no better than stealing in my
mind.” Mark leaned forward and caught everyone’s eye, after all, he was the
one most experienced with people borrowing for their own use, things that
did not belong to them.

“But what could we offer them in trade? We know next to
nothing about them and we could make things really bad, if we gave them the
wrong technology or advanced them too far in advance of where they are now.”
David added as he looked around for support.

“Like a cure for one of the diseases that is affecting
their people,” Fred leaned forward brows knitted as he was thinking, “I
probably could pick out one that would be a godsend to them, and at the same
time, target youth.”

“Almost every one of our medical cures rely on Nanite
technology Fred, that would be a problem right there,” Aaron spoke for the
first time, watching Fred carefully as he formulated his reply.

“But if they are truly an advanced dimension, they
already have nanites, they just don’t know how to program them like we do,
and we could send them one of the containment cartridges you designed to
alleviate…” Fred trailed off as he stared into Aaron’s eyes. “If they have
AIDS like they still do outside the Kingdom, your cartridges would be
perfect. We could give them enough for half a million doses. And if they
have the Nanite technology, they should be able to figure out on their own
how to program nanites for themselves.”

“I would be more comfortable if they could not find out
how to program nanites; what if they were not accepting of gays and used
what we gave them to wipe them out?” Brian looked at Fred, “would you like to know we
were responsible for genocide?”

“Alright, so if medical is out, how about just paying
them with gold or some other precious metal and let them buy resources they
can use to do what they need to.” Kevin sat back, this is the one he was
most comfortable with. “That way we’re still paying them, but not advancing
them, even if by accident.”

Fred stopped digging through the system for something
medical that would be useful and sat back frowning, “As much as I would like
to go with my plan that might be best. If they did not have nanites, my plan
would be a benefit…what am I saying? My plan would give one person or
government the power of life and death over others, not cool.”

“Do they even use gold or precious metals for currency,
how about jewels if they don’t?” Pat asked as he smiled at Damien, happy for
his friend and the possibilities they had agreed on if one of them was
removed from restriction, he licked his lips in anticipation.

Pete looked up, now that he had an answer, “They are a
curious mix of present day technology like that outside our Kingdom and
technology like that from several SCIFI shows we’ve all watched; in their
dimension, the Kathat race initiated first contact early, and they are not
like the Earth Confederation in the movies or books, more practical.”
Tilting his head to the side as he thought back to what he read, “They do
still use gold as currency, so we could drop off a couple of bars for four
hours worth of work…that’s how long we would have to borrow the system for.”

Tapping the screen a few times, he stood up and moved
to the monitor, “Two things would have to happen, we would have to shunt our
power source to their system, so they would not know something was up and I
think it could be done easily. And the second is, we have to use and create
the parts over there, and bring them to us, the whole thing is too big to
move, or at least the one that is the most advanced, and the one I have been
studying.” Pete smiled as he winked at Tim, “I tapped into the R and D
department of their space academy and have been downloading their whole tech
base, including ship designs.”

Tim laughed and pointed his finger accusingly at Pete,
“I just knew you couldn’t stand not having access to space ships.”

Laughing after coming to a decision, Aaron looked at
Pete, “You do know that we, with our gifts, out match anything their
piddling little space warping engines can do, don’t you?” seeing the look on
Pete’s face, he twisted the pun, “Of course if you would rather spend a week
being bored to death traveling between planets when you could be there in a
blink of the eye, well I think I have a Lego set around here somewhere you
can play with.”

After Pete surrendered gracefully, Aaron smiled and
looked at him, “Is there anything we need to know about this place and the
people that man it before borrowing their equipment?”

Secretly screaming "yes!!!!" and jumping up and down in
glee, Pete blanked the monitor and put his P.A.D.D. back in its holster,
“Well, it is fully functional but the place the replicator has been installed in is not
up and running fully yet, it’s in something that when finished and turned
over to the Confederation will be turned into a research hospital for kids,
and right now they are about a week from opening, they had planned to be
open and ready for business but had to close for a problem.” Looking over at
Aaron, Pete smiled, “this is perfect timing for us really, no one is supposed
to be around while some work is done to the power source except maybe a few
roaming patrols, afterwards, they will be bringing it online for good and it
will be a lot more difficult to sneak the time to use it between the times
they do.”

“How long would it take you to modify the…no, it would
be safer if we just built theirs here, and then modified the plans and built
a new more advanced one,” Aaron changed in midstream, and seeing the
confusion on Pete’s face, “just in case we would be interrupted in mid
process, nothing of an advanced design would be available for their study.
They would just assume something went wrong and do a check through to see
what happened before forgetting about it, if a part would appear there, if
we had to leave in mid cycle.”

“So we are definitely doing this, then?” David asked,
as he looked around the room.

“I think so, as long as we are only replicating the
parts, and we pay them for the use, even though they never knew we used it.
I can’t see where there are any risks…can any of you?” Aaron asked as he
looked around the room.

After everyone told him no, he chuckled at Pete’s
enthusiasm, “When do we get to do this?”

Smirking, Aaron glanced at him and smirked until he
paled before laughing, “Get to bed early; we’re going to do this around two
in the morning, less of a chance of them needing or noticing the equipment
being used, then.”

“Grinning, Pete looked at everyone present and wiggled
his eyebrows, “Well, after dinner everyone can just help tire me out, so I
can go to sleep early then,” he giggled as he ran up the stairs out of
reach, only to stop at the top of the steps and sit down, “Um…where are we
going to do this at, it’s not like it would be safe to do it in the Core.”

Looking away and his smile disappearing Aaron stared at
the wall, “There is a room deep inside the mountain base that has everything
needed to make a dimensional rift, I’ll have the Core prepare it for use. It is totally separate from the
Kingdom, being in the trench...so if
something goes wrong...we’ll just eject it and let pressure do the rest.”

Pete got up and went over to Aaron then knelt in front
of his chair and placed a hand on his thigh, trying to wordlessly offer
comfort, when Aaron turned around, he had a small tired smile on his face
and he patted Pete on the head, “Nice doggy,” before breaking out in
laughter at Pete’s incredulous expression.

Laughing hard, Aaron pulled Pete up into his lap and
hugged him, “I couldn’t resist your puppy dog eyes,” he got out between
bouts of laughter.

“Alrighty…we’ve ignored the others and held up in here
long enough, thus ends this session of the Clan Stranton meeting and the two
incidents will be added to the secret Clan archives for future generations
to learn from.” Aaron stood up and motioned for Damien to come close.

Kissing Damien and picking his feet up off the floor,
Aaron laughed as he looked into Damien’s eyes,
“Now, what is this about a pact to feed your fellow hunters?” he laughed at
Damien’s blush before he set his feet on the floor and spotted Kenny
slinking off towards the steps. Giving Damien one last kiss, Aaron shot out
and around him, chasing a giggling and screaming Kenny up the stairs.

Glancing at the clock, he had an hour and a half before
lunch so deciding to see what was going on in the city, Aaron ported down
near the med bay and started to walk around, greeting people as he passed
them in the street. Which, of course, was easier said than done, as everyone
wanted to chat with him, even if only for a minute, to let him know how
happy they were now. A lot of the younger ones wanted to show him their
placement testing scores, proud of what they had accomplished, and Aaron
paid attention and made sure to congratulate and encourage each and every
one of them as they smiled at him. Even the older teens got in on the hugs
as they were infected by the excitement of the younger guys as they were
praised for doing well, where their parents had mostly ignored them.

Aaron smiled at one of the teens who had missed the
party the other night because they were in the bio-tubes, “Not like I’m
whining or anything. But everyone had a cookout while we were being altered
in the bio-tubes, and I was wondering if… I was wondering if we could have
one too.”

Pulling the teen down to his lap, causing him to blush
and stiffen up before relaxing when he did not find his ass in the air to be
beaten, Aaron hugged him close and releasing him when he relaxed, “You just
gave yourself a job. How about tomorrow starting at three? That gives
everyone a chance to get ready and you're in charge of making sure everyone
knows about it?”

“ME…?” the teen squeaked in fear, before relaxing after
Aaron grinned and nodded.

“Post a message to the system, and have it sent to
everyone; that should do it. Then send a message to Scott Stewarts, telling
him about the cookout and ask him to suggest something to cook. We can make
this an every Sunday thing, if all of you want, I’ll even move my hammock
over, so I can nap,” Aaron giggled before whispering, “like that is likely
to happen.” Getting a hard hug back, the teen bounced up off Aaron’s lap and
rushed towards the dining hall and the terminal over on the side wall, for
those wanting to work and snack.

“That was a wonderful thing to do, your Majesty; the
way you care for these kids is unbelievable,” one of the Marine recruits
told him as he sat down across from Aaron after the teens and younger kids
left to go plan the party.

Aaron tilted his head to look at the young man and
smiled at the obvious Marine crew cut the guy was sporting and glanced down
and saw the limiter on the young man’s wrist. “Our mandate is to get as many
of the gay teens and kids off the street and on the way to a better life.
Taking time out to host and cook for a party lets each of them know they are
valued and cared for. It's nothing, if it makes them feel valued, plus it
gives me an excuse to have a day off to relax, they’ll start it and I’ll
show up around four thirty or five o clock like the last one, and we’ll have
a lot of fun.”

Seeing that his Majesty was looking at him curiously,
as if trying to place him, Mike smiled, “Mike Carlton, your Majesty, former
U.S. Staff Sergeant in the Marines; I was released yesterday,” Mike lifted
his wrist and jiggled the limiter. “Not sure yet where I’ll be assigned, but
I’ll get to chose that tomorrow, I guess.”

“As long as you chose something you will be happy doing
and find rewarding, remember that,” Aaron pointed out with a smile as he
noticed the time and stood up, “I think you will enjoy wearing our dress
blacks, they will remind you of your former uniform,” Aaron grinned as he
reached over and held out his hand for the Staff Sergeant to shake. Moving
away from the table, Aaron stopped and glanced back over his shoulder, “out
of curiosity, what do you think about science fiction?”

Mike laughed as he swept his arm around the street,
“You mean like all of this,” he grinned, “let’s just say I am an old friend
with some of the better space opera’s.”

Grinning, Aaron started to walk away, “When you go in
for assignment tomorrow, tell them you want to hear about the Reliant
project.” Once past the park, Aaron entered the med bay and stopped to check
in with Gordon and get a face to face update.

During supper that night, Aaron had to hold his
laughter as Pete was bouncing around from table to table in his excitement.
Looking back at his plate of food for the next bit of stir fry, Aaron came
face to face with Andrew and Tyler sitting across from him, “Hello you two,
something I can do for you,” he asked with a smile, as he used his
chopsticks to pick up some of the stir fry.

Glancing at Tyler for support, Andrew looked back to
Aaron, “Edward spent all of last weekend with you in bed, alone and with
other Clan members that joined you in bed over the weekend. I had hoped this
weekend would be my turn, and I…we could not find you last night as you came
home late and we were already asleep,” Andrew accused, the last with a
finger shaking Aaron’s way.

Hiding his smile behind filling his mouth with some
stir fry, Aaron used the empty chop sticks as pointers and pointed them at
Andrew, “I was not aware that you three were taking turns.”

Tyler decided to try to salvage the situation, “If one
wanted to spend the night with you, sharing each other intimately, what
would we have to do?”

“Ask,” Aaron looked at him with a smile, “That is,
before anyone else does or show up after midnight when the rules go out the
window. Mostly people show up in the middle of the night to sleep if they
want a turn come morning time, and they missed out the night before.”

Tyler looked at Andrew, and as he turned back to ask,
Andrew beat him to it, “We want to spend the night having sex and all that
it entails, the two of us. I want you inside me, to cum deep inside me while
you show me pleasure. And Tyler wants you to not only be the first to suck
him off, but to finish what you started yesterday and cum deep inside him
too.”

Tyler grinned and pointed to Andrew, “He speaks for me
in this, and I really want this to happen.”

Seeing the amused expressions from around the dining
area, Aaron agreed, “As long as both of you understand that tonight I have
to leave at eleven for a project that needs to be completed, you both can
show up at eight in my bedroom and I will do my best to see to it I give you
what you want.” Aaron smiled before leaning across the table, “And if both
of you happen to be asleep in my bed when the project, if the project
finishes early…well there is no reason why I can’t just have my wicked way
with both of you once more before falling asleep, now is there?”

Grinning, Andrew shook his head no, before grabbing
Tyler and rushing off back to their seats while Aaron chuckled in amusement
as Edward sat down and asked, “Out of curiosity, how come you’re sitting
eating alone tonight?”

“Since I didn’t cook tonight, no one had a chance to
stop by for their one on one talks if they needed anything, so by sitting
here alone, it serves the same purpose, and as you’ve just seen those who
would have searched for me in the kitchen to talk about whatever, have found
time to pop over to my table to chat over what’s on their mind.” Aaron
shrugged before continuing to eat, waiting for Edward to bring up what he
had on his mind.

Before the silence got to too long and someone else
came over, Edward looked at Aaron, “I spent all of today talking with people
to go over different things I have been thinking about all week, now I need
to sit down with you and go over what I’ve come up with as ways for you to
invest some of your money in our economy.” Blushing with how forthright he
was being, he glanced away to see Derrick and Tim grinning at him, which
only caused the blush to deepen and travel down past his face.

“You’re planning on being at the U.N. on Tuesday with
your grandmother right?” Aaron decided he was full, “don’t be embarrassed
for seeing an opportunity of helping your people and taking it, if I was in
the kitchen you would not have hesitated would you have? We can meet
sometime after I finish with those idiots.”

Nodding his head but staying silent as he watched
Aaron, Edward finally got the courage up to ask, “Speaking of Tuesday, if it
is not a secret, um…why are you meeting with the U.N.? I mean in the past it
has been very clear that your Kingdom was to be left alone, so what have
they done that has every one of you angry when it is mentioned?”

Eyes flashing in anger that he controlled after seeing
Edward sit back trying to get away from him, Aaron sighed, “You mean besides
the demands that I sign all these accords and abide by their laws and
courts. Or the fact they are demanding money and technology that they think
should be shared because they say so, or how about the fact they are
demanding to know troop strengths and answers to questions they have no
business asking in the first place.” Aaron looked away to take a deep
breath, “I’m sorry Edward, it’s not you, but those fools, well they are
going to be in for a rude awakening come Tuesday when I get finished with
them, all those who have not signed the treaty will sign it, or else.”

Glancing back at Edward, “Suffice it to say that
Tuesday will be a day that will be more than memorable for a lot of people
and because of the Asian delegations and how quickly the Shaolin have spread
the word, I think you are in for a treat with some pretty nifty illusions,
just remember when it seems I morph into some strange alien creature, it is
an illusion,” Aaron smiled.

“Why would you do something like that, I mean how is
that going to help keep people thinking you’re not aliens?” Edward was
curious and leaned forward.

Laughing, Aaron winked at him, “Because I plan on
showing up to that meeting in a full combat suit and ceremonial over robe
designed to inspire fear in our enemies, which is why the Asians call us
dragon. It’s not because of the Clan crest, well not really.” Seeing he had
thoroughly confused Edward, “Trust me, it is easier to see it than explain
it, but you should get some enjoyment out of it anyways.”

“O…kay, if you say so. Are you planning on warning
grandmother before hand?” Edward asked as he stood up to go back to his talk
with Derrick.

“I just did, through you,” Aaron pointed out, as he
also stood up and picked up his plate and glass, so they could be washed.

Catching Friedrich’s eye and giving a head nod towards
the path, Aaron walked down it towards the hot springs, out of hearing of
everyone else and waited for Friedrich to follow him. Once Friedrich joined
him, he sighed and looked at Friedrich, “I am going to ask you to do
something I swore to myself never to ask you, as relying on precognition to
base decisions on is not only foolish, but reckless. Being around the Clan,
you should be aware by now of the term Clan Seal and what it means. There is
one more level you have never heard of, and I am not even going to go there.
A decision was made and even as I made it, I‘m second guessing it because of
the other Aaron’s memories of something similar, but where they were
searching without knowing what they were looking at, we do.”

Glancing away long enough to take a deep breath,
“Right, this is not making any sense and it does not matter,” Aaron steeled
his expression, “I want you to turn off your limiter…all the way off and I
am going to touch you thinking about my decision, and I need to know if you
see anything.”

Deciding that whatever it was must be extremely
important, Friedrich lifted his arm in front of his chest and touched the
jeweled limiter in a certain specific order that turned it off, “I’m ready,
your Majesty,” and held out his hand for Aaron to hold.

Hesitating, even after asking, Aaron looked into
Friedrich’s eyes, “Are you sure? Really sure, I know most of the time this
is not pleasant, and I don’t want to cause you pain on purpose.”

Dropping his voice almost to a whisper, “Aaron, if this
is worrying you to the degree you broke down to ask me to do this, then it
must be vitally important, and I am willing to deal with a little pain,”
Friedrich hoped he conveyed how sincere he was.

Taking a deep breath and concentrating really hard on
his decision, Aaron reached out and hesitating above Friedrich’s hand as he
stared at him, finally he grabbed the hand. Cracking an eye open when he did
not hear anything, Aaron opened them both wide at the quizzical expression
on Friedrich’s face, after several minutes, Friedrich reached over and
activated the limiter to its previous setting and looked at Aaron
quizzically again.

“At the rate the Clan is growing, you’re going to
collapse from exhaustion servicing all these horny guys,” Friedrich looked
at Aaron with a funny expression on his face before adding to the confusion,
“Nothing painful happened, so whatever you’re planning is not a danger to
our people, but tell Xon that he is loved and wanted, no matter what when
he joins the Clan,” before he walked away leaving Aaron standing there
looking at his retreating back.

And that is why one should never rely on precognition, Aaron
thought, as he distractedly made his way back to the house to await Andrew
and Tyler.

Gazing down at Andrew and Tyler who were sound asleep,
Aaron wondered where the fabled energy of youth was. Really, you would think
that they would have more stamina then a measly three hours. Chuckling, he
grabbed a quick shower before porting down to the entry chamber outside the
core, waiting until the system verified him, he ran over in his mind once
more the cryptic precog that Friedrich had given, who or what was a Xon and
why would they be joining his lovers and Clan.

Seeing Pete lying back on one of the recliners, Aaron
was about to say something when he noticed he was asleep, that might not be
a bad idea he thought, as he made himself comfortable on the recliner,
“Identify and Verify…” The white light came down to scan his DNA as expected
and the voice that was the Core spoke.

“Identity confirmed…Aaron Stranton…Prime, Clan
Stranton…King of the Alteran Empire and the known sixty four worlds…”

Time to get answers, Aaron thought; “Query…Expand
reasoning behind Title of King of Alteran Empire and sixty four known
worlds.”

Pete opened his eyes at hearing voices and rolled over
this should be good for quite a few laughs he thought, as Aaron had the most
expressive face.

Aaron looked gob smacked and glanced open mouthed
towards the giggling from the next recliner, “I thought you were asleep, did
I wake you?”

“Not really, I had just closed my eyes when you came
in,” smirking in the dim light, Pete picked his head up to get a better
vantage point to look at Aaron, “So, you're Emperor-ish sir, what do you
plan to do with all your new worlds?”

“I have no fucking clue and I’m almost afraid to ask
about the worlds the system skipped because they were unfavorable, including
sentient life,” Aaron closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hand.
“No, I do know what I am going to do with one of them at least, It will be
the new home for the Shaolin, it will take them at least a month to pack
everything carefully, so I have time to pick out the right one and send the
assemblers to get housing and a temple set up, after all, it can’t take all
that long to set up for a couple of hundred people,” he was relying on the
memory provided by his other self, but it couldn’t be that far off could it,
he would have to sit down with the Elder Shaolin soon to find out for sure.

“How long will it take you to upload the specifications
for the parts, once we connect?” Aaron wanted to know, as he was thinking
about starting early so they could get some sleep.

“The file is ready to go and I set it to feed the
specifications only one part in advance of the part being replicated. That
way if something goes wrong, there is not a huge file of parts being created
in the queue if we disconnect.” Laying back on the recliner, Pete looked up
at the ceiling. “Also, I was able to shorten the list after glancing through
the manual. I think we can use our computer systems to run the replication
system and the simulation that I finished before you came in showed that it
will work; so it drops the time needed to be connected to that world to two
hours.”

“Better all the time, the risk drops by fifty percent,
which is a good thing to my mind. So let’s bring this world up, so I can
take a look around while you make the connections for power and upload your
files,” Aaron smiled as he got up off the couch, confusing Pete.

Pete looked lost for a moment, “Why are you getting up,
don’t we have to control everything from here?”

“I suppose we could, but what we are getting here is a
feed from the lab where the actual connection is taking place. I think I
would be more comfortable being in the actual lab, not controlling things
through an interface that could conceivably fail.” Aaron gestured for Pete
to stand up as a door slid open on the opposite wall to the entry.

Puzzled, Pete followed Aaron into a small room where a
small torpedo looking vehicle was nestled in a tube with the hatch open.
Watching Aaron get in first and spread his legs, he smiled as he saw Aaron
adjust himself so he would not get smashed and quickly climbed in the
torpedo and snuggled back into Aaron from the front as the hatch closed and
sealed.

“I never did ask if you liked roller coasters.” Aaron
grinned, as he whispered in Pete’s ear as the now sealed vehicle shot down
the tube after Aaron inputted a destination into the on-board computer.

Eyes wide in anticipation, Pete nodded, “Oh hell yes,
its right there, two spots behind sex on my list of most favorite things.”

Laughing, Aaron pulled Pete back into his chest, “I’m
not going to ask.”

Two minutes later, the vehicle slowed to a stop and as
the barrier in front of them opened up, Pete craned his head back and saw
another one drop down behind them. So far, the trip while fast could not be
compared to a roller coaster, so he was eager to see what happened next,
which happened to be the tube flooding with water and a blue shield snapping
into place around the torpedo shaped vehicle.

“Well, here we go,” warned Aaron, as the vehicle
started forward again and suddenly dropped straight down nose first.
Wiggling his finger in his ear to clear out Pete’s shout of glee, he joined
in Pete’s laughter as the shuttle rode the tube track up and around the
curves and dips as it traveled down into the trench.

Fifteen minutes later, they shot into an opening in the
trench wall and started to slow down until they stopped and in a reverse
process of when they stopped before leaving the city, the tube was flooded
with air pushing the water out before they continued on for another minute
then finally, they stopped and the hatch unsealed and lifted.

Pete jumped out of the vehicle all excited from the
trip and turned towards Aaron who was just getting out. “Well, that was a
lot of fun, and I wouldn’t want to miss it, being a big coaster freak, but
why didn’t we just port over?”

Pointing to the door in front of them, Aaron initiated
the DNA scan so the door would open, “Because you can’t port into or out of
the lab, a security feature, in case something would happen, though we can
port out of the arrival room just not into it.”

Walking through the door, Pete craned his neck as he
looked around the huge room, “How are we going to get everything out of here
then, once we bring it over, that is.”

“There is a way to drop the shield so everything can be
ported out, but it needs three Clan members cleared for Core access to DNA
unlock the shield, we’ll do that tomorrow, after the beach party.” Aaron
walked to the control console and brought it out of remote standby as he sat
down in the chair and looked to the screen. Pointing to the empty chair he
grinned, “It’s your show, for the most part, so dial us into this dimension
and let’s take a look around.”

Grinning, Pete almost bounced out of the seat as he
jumped in it and let his hands fly across the touch pads of the terminal as
he modulated the frequency to the right dimension.

Glancing at the dimensional frequency, “Well, I don’t
think we have much to worry about, this wave form is so far out of balance
that anything living that comes through will not survive long in our
dimension, not without the help of a stabilizer, so we should be pretty
safe.” Aaron glanced around the room on the monitor before bringing to life
one of the SE114’s and sending it through the rift that formed in the
circular room two steps below their station. “Area looks clear, Pete, go
ahead and create the power shunt to their system while I take a look
around.”

Opening his eyes as his scanner beeped a warning note;
Xon sat up, pulled the scanner over and stared at the readings. The wave
form that matched his perfectly had appeared once more, this time it was in
the transporter room on the tenth floor, the one modified to act as a
replicator, slipping into his shoes; he carefully slipped past the roaming
security patrol and started up the stairs, eyes glued to the scanner.

Standing outside the transporter room, Xon looked at
the scanner once more and examined the wave-form, the signal was stronger
and another power source was evident and being picked up by his scanner.

“Excuse me, but this is a restricted area, I’m going to
have to ask that you identify yourself,” one of the roving patrols had come
across Xon.

Coming to a logical decision, Xon turned off his
scanner and pulled out his ID, “I am Xon of Kathat, Security Elder for the
Kathat Ruling Council.” Xon handed over his ID that showed a nova level
clearance. “I must order you to evacuate the tenth floor immediately and
keep all persons from entering it for the next three point seven hours, my
orders have the authority of the Ruling Council behind them and can only be
overruled by the Ruling Council directly, Ensign.”

Handing back the ID, the ensign knew he was caught
between two conflicting sets of orders and tried to find a middle ground,
“If you will hold on one moment Security Elder Xon, while I confer with my
superiors to get permission.”

Xon turned and faced the ensign, “There is no further
authorization needed, this is a Kathat Facility…as such, as the ranking
Elder here my commands can NOT be questioned; you have your orders Ensign.
Carry them out.” Xon turned away and turned the scanner back on; all
thoughts of the ensign leaving his mind before he walked into the
transporter room, the doors closing behind him automatically. “So the way
home is stable and the rift is on the transport / replicator pad.”

Aaron froze as someone walked into the room muttering
about the way home being stable as he lifted a scanning device towards the
rift, looking at Pete, who was rapidly looking the control settings over,
“Can this pile of junk tell me why no alarms are going off right now as
that…” he pointed to the monitor of the teen walking towards the rift, “Is
definitely a life form that should have set off the alarms.”

“But, it is working. It recorded the guard outside the
room a minute ago, and him walking away,” Pete sounded frustrated as he
looked back up at the screen, “It should be registering him,” he threw his
finger towards the screen as if accusing the teen of being at fault.

Standing outside the range of the transporter pad, Xon
noticed the components being created and sent through the rift, they seemed
to be vital for the creation of either a replicator or transporter system,
glancing over his shoulder, or the combined system like this one. “I am
called Xon and I am not a native to this dimension, and my scanner indicates
this rift is of the right frequency as my home dimension, are you able to
communicate with me?” Xon spoke to the rift, wondering if he could be heard
or even understood, if all else failed he was prepared to jump into the rift
the moment his scanner indicated it was starting to lose stability.

Pete looked at Aaron for direction after hearing the
teen’s words and rapidly resetting the scanner settings before going back to
stare at Aaron who was looking back and forth between the console and the
screen, when suddenly the system came online and showed the intruder.

“Pete, what did you just do so he showed up on our
system scans?” Aaron said, very slowly, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Aaron’s stomach plunged, and he felt sick as he gazed
at the image, and finally breaking his gaze away long enough to look at
Pete, who just pointed and nodded. Dispatching the SE114 back through the
rift Aaron activated the projector feature, and appeared before the teen,
“As far as I know, it is impossible for a life form from either of these two
dimensions to exist in the other, please clarify how you do exist if what
you say is true?” the image looked away which fascinated Xon, as he heard,
“Pete, how long until replication is complete and we have all the
components?”

“Another twenty minutes, though I could disconnect now.
I did a reverse order for the list, so anything created now could be done in
a couple of months, if we had to,” Pete pointed to the teen on the screen
who had placed his hand through the image, or attempted to and was stopped
by the forces creating the image.

“Fascinating, such a solid hologram without visible
emitters,” Xon sounded as excited as a Kathat possibly could, even though he
knew he was not of that race and subject to their limits.

Without thinking about it, Aaron had stood up and moved
closer to the screen as he looked at the teen on the screen hold up his arm.
Remembering the questions, Xon held up his hand and displayed the device
attached to his skin, “That would be true, if one was not wearing this
stabilizer. Though when the Kathat scouts found me, they had to repair the
device to keep me alive, and they modified it from its original
configuration.” Slipping his hand into the seam of his shirt he pulled it
off one handed so his chest was exposed, that and the medallion resting on
it. “The stabilizer on my wrist and this medallion were the only things
found on me when the Kathat medics removed my unconscious body from the
barren planet where I was found.”

Aaron fell back against the console, as Pete zoomed in
on the medallion around the teen’s neck.

“This pendant resists all forms of scanning and
removal so far, all attempts have met with no results,” Xon was curious and
leaned closer to the image, eager for information, “Do you recognize it…can
you tell me what it means, as I have no memories other than the ones I have
experienced since waking on the Kathat home world?”

Xon was concerned, the image seemed to stumble and fall
and the person who’s image was being transmitted looked to be in distress
and the image suddenly widened so he could see another and some sort of
control room, “Fascinating…”

“Aaron, is that what I think it is?” Pete questioned as
his hands started a detailed scan of the teen, “Both of those items are
definitely Alteran, the system is positive.”

“This should not be possible, no, not possible,” Aaron
could not take his eyes away from the Clan medallion around the teen’s neck.

“Logic states that you take into consideration what
your eyes tell you,” Xon calmly looked down at the medallion and the person
in the image. “This means something to you, something important.”

Squatting down across from the image, “The reason
Kathat initiated first contact with Earth is that they thought this was my
home world, as I share enough genetic material to be roughly called human,
though I am not. It was erroneously assumed that if this was my species,
then they had achieved warp travel and they were open for first contact.
This has since been proven false. And until I discovered dimensional theory,
after the Montgomery returned from a mission where they encountered a rift
that allowed the transporters to cross dimensions. After some
experimentation, I created this device which detects dimensional rifts,” Xon
held his scanner up so they could see it. “It is the only scanner that can
detect rifts and their wave forms, in existence.”

Coming out of his shock, Aaron stood up and looked at
Pete who looked at his list, “The last three components are initializing
now, two minutes until we are finished.”

“Pete, you’re going to have to go get Kevin and Tim and
return with them, once Xon steps into the rift and is transported here,
security protocols will initiate that will lock this lab up securely,” Aaron
glanced back as he moved around the console, so he was standing in front of
the touch screen and started to input commands.

“Right, I'd better get a move on, give me ten minutes
to get everyone on the way,” Pete jumped up and was halfway across the room
before he skidded to halt. “How the heck do we unlock the lab once we get
back?”

“Command the system verbally to deactivate the shield
at the same time you demand identification, you have to do it from the Core
recliners, this lab is EL1…remember that as once you are out of the room,
all contact is cut off, even mental.”

“Five minutes then,” Pete was through the door and gone
by the time Aaron looked up.

Seeing the hope and confusion on Xon’s face, Aaron
smiled, “I'm sorry, we’re confusing you,” holding up his ring so Xon could
clearly see the same design, “I am Aaron Stranton, Prime of Clan Stranton…”
Aaron saw the joy in the teen’s eyes at finding a connection and then
shocked Xon, “King of the Alteran Empire and you, Xon, are a son of Clan
Stranton.”

“Though I have no idea how it is possible, do you need
a minute to leave a message that you are leaving.” Aaron asked, as he
initiated overrides.

“Core override…Disengage lethal protocols…I tell you
three times,” Aaron gazed up at the ceiling towards the Core recorders.

“I hear you three times,” Xon said, a second before the
core system did, “Why does that phrase mean so much to me?”

Aaron finally believed the whole thing was true when
Xon acknowledged his order, before the Core system did and looked at the
confused teen. “Because, Xon, only my Clan has knowledge of those two
phrases and what they truly mean. Hurry now, the longer it takes the greater
chance of being discovered.”

Nodding his acknowledgement, Xon went over to the
transporter console, stripped out of his clothes, activated the recorders
and set it to transmit his message to Kathat when it was played for the
first time, here on Earth.

“I am Xon, Security Elder of the Kathat Ruling Council;
this message is being transmitted simultaneously as it is being viewed here
on Earth by those we have tasked with creating this hospital. After two
hundred years of searching, I have not only found my home world, but have
found my family, I have strived and yearned for this day for a long time and
finally I am going home. The image you see behind me is a rift created by my
people to bring me home. The person you see in the background is the head of
my family and even though I still do not have my memory, the proof offered
is conclusive. To the Kathat Ruling Guild, those who have acted as my
guardian these two hundred fifty years, you have my appreciation.”

Aaron telekinetically moved the pile of gold bars
through the rift and set them on the floor in the middle of the room before
turning his attention back to Xon, “Son of Clan Stranton, it is time to come
home,” Aaron held out his arm towards the rift so the pickup could clearly
see his crest.

Hesitating only a moment, Xon walked through the rift
and into Aaron’s arms, his stabilizer falling off as he entered the rift.

The rift closing, the only thing left was the
stabilizer next to a discarded shirt on the transporter pad and a stack of
gold bars.

Kissing Xon on the forehead, Aaron let him sob out his
triumph and frustrations over being lost and then found, and that was how
Pete along with Tim and Kevin found them several minutes later, after not
only disengaging the defense protocols, but lowering the shields.

Fred, along with all the other Clan members walked into
the room and ever practical, removed his scanner and started to run a
detailed medical scan on Xon starting with his brain; after experiencing the
memory dump by Pete when he woke the clan up he thought it would be the wise
thing to do. “Aaron, we need to get Xon to the med bay, whatever the Kathat
healer’s did with the stabilizer froze the damage at the time, but if he
doesn’t want to lose everything, we need to get him in a Bio-tube like
yesterday.”

Holding the sobbing teen, Aaron closed his eyes and
ported directly to the Clan Med bay then quickly scooped Xon up and slid him
into the Bio-tube while Fred started to attach the sensors and activate the
soma unit. Aaron quickly intubated the teen and seeing Fred was done,
activated the Bio-tube and watched as the lid sealed and the regen fluid
rushed in, displacing all the air “Three units of nanite’s Fred, while I
start a complete brain scan and stabilization.”

Hands flying over the terminal, Aaron quickly
stabilized Xon’s neural pathways, “Well, he’s stable now and luckily none of
his current memories were affected, after his brain is repaired he
should have access to his gifts again.” Looking at the Clan who were in
turn, looking on in concern and confusion, “I don’t think we will ever
really know who he was and how he came to be in that dimension.”

Looking up and back at the clock, Aaron sighed, “We’ll
handle this on Monday when he is released from the Bio-tube.” Opening the
clear acrylic panel on the top of the bio-tube, Aaron held up the medallion
for everyone to see and placed it in the box before sliding the panel
closed, at his touch it had come off in his hand when he had embraced Xon.

Pulling Pete close, “We’ll move all the components over
to the assembler area in the morning and maybe when he is released, Xon
might help you put it together,” Aaron kissed Pete good night after all of
them had made it to the common room, and smiled as he looked into his room,
Tyler and Andrew were still asleep which is where he needed to be. Snuggling
up behind Andrew, Aaron pulled the covers up and was asleep a moment after
his head hit the pillow.

Editors section:

Scott’s musings:

RadioRanchers Musings: Well I finally have seen this
chapter in its entirety. I actually got to see the final scenes that
included Xon, some time ago, when WolfWalker asked my advice on a couple of
things about it. I made a mental note to myself not to cheat and read the
rest of the chapter, because I had been several chapters behind at that
point. Now that I have caught up and know what has happened, I am very
impressed. Just in case you haven't noticed, there is still a mystery here.
I am sure that WolfWalker will be interested to see what readers' reactions
are going to be to this chapter. I know I will be very interested in hearing
from you about this. Do any of you have an idea what happened and why we are
curious to see what you think happened and where? I will say no more at this
time, but I will be waiting to hear from readers, and please let us know
what you think.